WWU Spring Quarter Commencement Set for June 10 in Carver Academic Facility

About 2,045 students will graduate from Western Washington University in three ceremonies June 10 when Commencement returns to Carver Academic Facility, which is nearing the end of a 2-year renovation.

About 1,890 undergraduate and 153 master’s students are expected to graduate from Western June 10. Admission is by ticket only, and each graduate will be allowed four tickets.

The ceremony will be the first time Carver Academic Facility will be open since renovation work began in August 2015. Only the gymnasium portion of the building will be open only to the graduates and their ticketed guests, along with authorized WWU staff. Once the ceremony is complete, the building will close to the public so work can continue. Carver is expected to be completed in time for the start of fall quarter in late September.

Main speakers for the June 10 ceremony will be Moss Adams partner Marke Greene, San Francisco Bay Area attorney Adonica Wada, and Bellingham manufacturing entrepreneur Paul Van Metre.

Greene, the speaker at the 9 a.m. ceremony, is a 1993 accounting graduate of Western and a partner at Moss Adams LLP in Seattle, where he leads the firm’s specialty tax services. Greene is also a member of the WWU Alumni Association Board of Directors, a mentor to students who are interested in the accounting field, and a member of the advisory board of Forum W at Moss Adams, which promotes retention, development and advancement of women in the accounting industry.

Wada, the speaker at the 12:30 p.m. ceremony, graduated from Western in 1990 with a double major in English and history. She is now an attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area working for Varian Medical Systems, which creates radiation oncology equipment and software used in treating cancer. She is also active with her local and national bar associations and a former member of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

Van Metre, who will speak at the 4 p.m. ceremony, is a 1996 graduate of Western who majored in industrial technology. After 17 years as president of the Bellingham machine shop Pro CNC, Van Metre co-founded Adion Systems, a company that develops software for small and medium manufacturing companies. He’s also the founder and president of DFM Partners, which consults internationally with companies to improve the design and reduce manufacturing costs of their products.

The 9 a.m. ceremony will include candidates from College of Business and Economics, the College of Fine and Performing Arts, Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies and Huxley College of the Environment. In addition, students from three interdisciplinary programs will graduate at 9 a.m.: American Cultural Studies, Canadian American Studies and Energy Policy and Management.

At 12:30 p.m., candidates from Woodring College of Education and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ humanities departments will graduate.

The 4 p.m. ceremony will include candidates from the College of Science and Engineering and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ social sciences departments.

All three ceremonies will include candidates from the Graduate School.

The ceremonies will be streamed live at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wwu-live-events1.

In addition to the keynote speaker, a WWU student will speak at each commencement ceremony.

Victoria Niewohner of Mukilteo will speak at the 9 a.m. ceremony. Niewohner will graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental science with two minors, environmental policy and geographic information science. She is also the Outstanding Graduate in Environmental Science. A graduate of Kamiak High School, Niewohner completed summer internships with the Seattle Audubon Society and Michigan State University’s Kellogg Biological Station and will intern with the Port of Seattle this summer.

The 12:30 p.m. student speaker will be Riley Jessett of Spokane. Jessett will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in English and Humanities and as the Outstanding Graduate in Liberal Studies. A graduate of Lewis and Clark High School, Jessett will soon move to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to teach kindergarten for Teach for America.   

Mikko Sayre of Fairbanks, Alaska, will be the student speaker at the 4 p.m. ceremony. Sayre will graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in biochemistry and a minor in psychology. This fall, he’s headed to medical school at Columbia University with the Columbia-Bassett Program.

There will be additional commencement-related ceremonies and gatherings on Western’s campus June 10. Fairhaven College will hold an additional graduation celebration at 3:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center Concert Hall. There will also be a celebration for Huxley graduates at 2 p.m. in the PAC Mainstage Theatre. In addition, a reception for Woodring graduates will be Friday, June 9, at 3:30 p.m. in the Miller Hall Collaborative Space.

For more information or for disability accommodations contact the Registrar’s Office, (360) 650-3701.